Morgan May

Profile

I have broad interests in experimental nuclear physics, particle physics and astrophysics. The properties of matter and particles containing strange quarks have been of special, long-standing interest.

Normal matter is made of up and down quarks. There are two additional families that are mysterious repetitions of the first having new conserved quantum numbers. The strange quark is a member of the second family. A hypernucleus is formed when one or more strange quarks are exchanged with those in a nucleus. The fact that the strange quark and the lambda particle of which it is a constituent are distinguished from the normal components of the nucleus is a source of the interesting properties of hypernuclei. Although strange quarks have a fleeting existence on earth, they may be a substantial, stable component of neutron stars.

New particles or states of matter (H particles, strangelets, strange matter) have been conjectured to occur when sufficient strangeness is present, due to the increased symmetry possible with three distinct flavors. My research on these topics is conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Long Island, New York).

Other research topics have included early studies of charm production and studies of muonic helium.